Tara Reid (born November 8, 1975) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films The Big Lebowski (1998), Urban Legend (1998), American Pie (1999), American Pie 2 (2001), National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002), My Boss’s Daughter (2003), and Alone in the Dark (2005).
Early life
Reid was born and raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, the daughter of Donna and Tom Reid, both of whom are teachers and day-care center owners. She attended Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School and subsequently Ramapo High School and graduated from Barnstable Academy, an alternative high school. She also attended Professional Children’s School, in Manhattan, along with fellow actors Christina Ricci, Ben Taylor, Jerry O’Connell, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Macaulay Culkin. Reid has twin younger siblings Colleen and Patrick and another brother, Tom.
Career
Reid began acting at age nine, being a regular on the game show Child’s Play, and appeared in over 100 commercials including Jell-O, McDonalds, Crayola and Milton Bradley. As a teenager, she was on Saved By The Bell: The New Class and on All My Children.
After moving to Hollywood in 1997, Reid transitioned to movies, landing her break out role in 1998’s The Big Lebowski, a cult favorite, and her first #1 box office role. She finished out the year appearing in two more box office toppers, Cruel Intentions and Urban Legend. In 1999, Reid portrayed the role of virginal Vickie in the wildly successful film, American Pie, which grossed over $102,000,000 in United States box office receipts and becoming her fourth #1 in a row.
Reid quickly became an A-list actress, as rumors bombarded tabloids of her hard partying lifestyle. Reid collected over 200 red carpet appearances in 2001 alone, and was commonly seen with Young Hollywood’s most recognizable, including Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan.
Between 2000 and 2002, Reid starred in a string of unsuccessful movies, such as Josie and the Pussycats and Dr. T and the Women. In 2001 and 2002, she reclaimed her box office success with the sequel to American Pie and National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, alongside Ryan Reynolds; both of which went to #1.
Reid quickly developed a reputation as a party girl, and it became increasingly difficult for her to land serious roles. She returned to the small screen as a re-occurring character on the NBC sitcom, Scrubs, appearing in 11 episodes of Season 3. Her character was written off the show, after filming conflicts arose, many of which were rumored to involve her lifestyle off-camera.
From 2003 through 2005, Reid appeared in two movies (My Boss’s Daughter and Alone in the Dark), both panned by critics. Reid was quickly written off by Hollywood execs and directors alike, and has yet to have a project released in theaters since. All movies starring the actress since then have gone straight to DVD, except 2006’s Incubus, which was streamed online. In January 2007, Reid filmed a commercial with Daniel Conn for Dodo, an Australian budget telephone and Internet provider.
In 2005, Reid signed on to host the E! Channel’s Wild On Tara Reid (later renamed Taradise), a program that showcased high society vacations and hot spots. The show aired in October 2005 and was cancelled in February 2006, due to poor ratings, with only 8 of the 14 episodes aired.
After these career setbacks and public falling outs with both Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, Reid’s only income was coming from making public appearances at nightclubs. In the peak of her fame, she was commanding $60,000 per appearance (according to People Magazine), but by late 2008 was struggling to bring in $1,500 (according to Us Weekly).
In November 2008, Reid checked into Promises Rehab Facility in Malibu to be treated for alcoholism and anorexia. Following a 60-day stint, she was released and sold her story to In Touch Weekly for a reported $150,000. According to E! News, Reid has already landed two movie roles since being discharged.
Besides work on her new movie roles, Reid also has designed a clothing line with Ed Hardy designer, Christian Audigier, entitled Mantra, which will hit high end department stores in 2009.
Personal life
Reid was romantically linked to Carson Daly starting in early 2000. Daly made a cameo appearance in, Josie and the Pussycats (also starring Reid), in which he jokes while attempting to kill Reid’s character that the two could have had a romantic relationship given different circumstances. In June 2001, Reid and Daly broke off their engagement. She previously had dated Russian hockey star Sergei Fedorov. In the late 1990s, she dated actor Steve Burton and still is close to him and his family. She briefly dated football players Tom Brady, Jerome Bettis, Jeremy Shockey, Kyle Boller, Kevin Mawae, and tennis player Mark Philippoussis.
On the night of November 4, 2004, photographs surfaced of Reid from the red carpet at Puff Daddy’s 35th birthday party at Cipriani’s Restaurant in New York City, when her dress fell, exposing her left breast.
In October 2006, Reid acknowledged in an interview with Us Weekly that she had liposculpting. In the interview she discusses how her plastic surgery “went wrong” and also explains why she decided to have plastic surgery done, saying that her breasts were uneven and that she wanted a “six pack” for a new movie role. The liposuction resulted in deformity. In the same interview, Reid’s new plastic surgeon, Dr. Steven Svehlak, reported that he performed a procedure called a “doughnut mastopexy” to correct her original augmentation, and performed additional liposuction in hopes to even out her stomach.
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